American Flag Fish - any common illnesses? Suggestions?

[alexyay]

I had an issue with what I believe to be internal parasites back here - http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariu ... p?t=117849 and they got a lot better after 3x doses Prazi. But they're looking sick again and not eating, which is very frustrating.

Can parasites survive all that and make a comeback & start thriving again?

I now have

- 1 healthy girl, looking a bit sad, but eating.

- 1 male with a slightly large "firm" looking abdomen - almost looks eggbound if he wasn't, well, male. He's not eating.

- 1 very very skinny girl, not eating, I moved her into another tank with lots of filamentous algae and she hasn't perked up.

What I'm going to do is

- Move her back to their hospital tank

- Give the male an epsom salt bath?

- Do another round of prazi

Does anyone know of any others things that might be causing this? Any other suggestions? I'll try to get some pictures in a second.

[alexyay]

If of any interest, these guys previously shared the tank with my sick gourami who passed away on Wednesday night. Since they were looking better they've since shared water with the same tank again (which was also dosed with Prazi). Do you think I should dose all my tanks?

[alexyay]

Bloated male

Super skinny female

The healthy female is behind the male, constantly following him around etc as usual. But basically the super skinny female looks nothing like the healthy girl, who looks nice and round.

Also a slightly unrelated question - is TB a common occurrence in fish in NZ and are there any other zoonotic diseases that can occur when handling aquarium fish?

[alanmin4304]

Piscene TB should be picked up while imported fish are in quarantine. It is not common but does pop up from time to time.

[Adrienne]

Its also important to remember that the bacteria causing Piscene TB is also the agent which can cause TB in humans so if anyone thinks they may have it in their tank they need to be exceptionally careful and also use best fish keeping practices when disposing of water i.e. do not put it down a drain or into a waterway.

I am wondering if the prazi has only temporarily fixed the problem and that you should be medicating with a different sort of prescription medicine i.e. metro

[alexyay]

Its also important to remember that the bacteria causing Piscene TB is also the agent which can cause TB in humans so if anyone thinks they may have it in their tank they need to be exceptionally careful and also use best fish keeping practices when disposing of water i.e. do not put it down a drain or into a waterway.

I am wondering if the prazi has only temporarily fixed the problem and that you should be medicating with a different sort of prescription medicine i.e. metro

Perhaps - unfortunately I can't get out to the vet for another 2 weeks but I want to get some metro in case this kind of thing happens again.

I knew TB was zoonotic so I wanted to make sure it was a risk or not. Being in an apartment all of our water goes down the drain but hopefully I never get it in the tanks (I know the basic signs but apparently it can be carried without symptoms)

[Adrienne]

You won't get a script for metro without proof that the fish actually has a condition requiring it, so its not something you can have on hand just in case. You will most likely have to take the fish with you plus reliable documentation as to what the condition is and what medication is required.